A Mostly Center-Right Place For Those With Irritable Obama Syndrome and Diversity Fatigue

I wanted to share this very revealing clip of President Obama from last night’s O’Reilly Factor. Comedienne Dennis Miller weighs in on Obama’s attitude towards anyone who disagrees with him. As far back as the 2008 Democratic primary, I have always held a strong suspicion that Barack Obama is not a sincere advocate of free speech unless it serves to advance his agenda. The lack of respect he displays towards the tea party anti-tax protesters in this clip is ridiculously unprofessional and whiny. What happened to the political messiah? Where is the hopenchange prophet of common good and wealth for the people? Where is the Prince of Elegance? I thought Obama was the people’s president. He sure doesn’t look like it here.

Chrysler LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York Thursday, kicking off what the Obama administration predicts will be a 30- to 60-day restructuring of the third-largest U.S. auto maker.

At the same time, Chrysler entered into a partnership with Italian auto maker Fiat SpA, Mr. Obama said in a noon address. Mr. Obama said the partnership would not only let Chrysler survive “but to thrive.”

The U.S. government will provide up to an additional $8 billion in aid, including up to $3.5 billion in so-called debtor-in-possession financing, to ensure Chrysler survives the historic reorganization process. The administration had hoped to keep the car maker out of court but decided it was the only option after a deal to cut the company’s debt was rejected late Wednesday by several of the company’s lenders, a senior administration official said.

So again President Government steps in and gives more money- $8 billion. That is $8 Billion of our tax payer dollars paid as a dowry to Fiat- an international company. Wouldn’t this lead to increased competition for the US auto industry? Was I just hearing things last night or didn’t Obama say during his historic 100 day anniversary press conference that he did not enjoy interfering in affairs outside of Washington? He doesn’t want to be running American businesses. I heard it. Did anyone else?

Obama said he wanted “to disabuse people of this notion that somehow we enjoy, you know, meddling in the private sector.”

“If you could tell me right now that when I walked into this office that the banks were humming, that autos were selling, and that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting health care passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran, and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal,” Obama said.

Now compare Obama’s quote from Wednesday with the WSJ story:

In exchange for the aid, the U.S. government will take a “small equity” stake in the new company, which will be partly owned by Fiat. According to a White House fact sheet, the U.S. Treasury will hold 8% of the reorganized company, while Fiat would hold 20% and the governments of Canada and Ontario would receive 2%. The U.S. government would have the power to appoint board members at the new company but would not get involved in day-to-day operations, the administration official said.

Nah, that doesn’t sound like an administration that wants to meddle in the private sector. I suppose President Obama also taught courses in bankruptcy law along with his con law courses. Watch out America next Obama will force us to purchase their cars. Every model comes with a cup holder for your Kool Aid.

In my opinion, Chrysler and the other auto giants should have been untouched by the federal government and allowed to fail. Yes that is very cruel and conservative minded of me. That is what capitalism is. Businesses start, they fail, shit happens. Chrysler should have filed for bankruptcy months ago. Because of government intervention or for lack of a better term “meddling”. We have wasted billions, perhaps trillions of taxpayer TARP money on auto companies that are still unsuccessful despite the bailouts. Great, just great.

In February 2009, MS. Magazine offered their bold interpretation of feminism by publishing an article which infuriated me to no end.Featured on the cover was President Barack Obama clad in Superman garb. Looking utterly heroic, Super Obama was peeling off his costume to reveal a shirt which bared the phrase” This is What a Feminist Looks Like”.My blood was boiling. How could MS. Run such a story after what happened to Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin during the election of 2008? Remember guys Obama is the one that said during of Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primaries:

“I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal.”

Yes Barack Obama…the man who was accused of being a sexist by Geraldine Ferraro.

The man who implied that Sarah Palin was a pig from “Wasilly, AK”

My anger with Ms. Concerned their uplifting of Barack Obama as an example of a feminist while he and his campaign in fact, marginalized the political role of women.

I understand that the relationship between feminism and politics is one that is historically stormy and open to criticism by the patriarchy. Stop being whiny girl, since 1789 you have had 37 women in the senate.

Well I understand that the relationship between feminism and politics is one that has deep connections to liberalism. Sarah Palin can get hung out to dry. She is a conservative so that it is okay when the mainstream media verbally assaults her. Heck, as we are liberal women too so let’s join in on the bash fest by accusing her of being stupid, and a bad mother because she is on the campaign trail while she has a small children. Oh God, she flew on a airplane while she was in labor. Like Hillary Clinton, how can Sarah run the White House if“Her house is not in order”???

Ms. inagural issue depicting Obama as a feminist

By stating this, I am not attacking traditionally liberal feminist organizations such as NOW. I simply want to posit that there can be multiple and coexisting embodiments of feminism. I am speaking against this current and troubling trend that inclines feminist groups this tremendous push- this hypocritical tendency to dismiss any woman that is not an agent of the political left.To be inhospitable and dismissive in response to conservative women who justly deserve to be acknowledged as feminists, only serves to reinforce the power of the patriarchy and undermined any hope of a united front.

In an effort to legitimize their claim that Obama is what a feminist looks like, MS publisher Eleanor Smeal published in the Huffington Post this dandy gem as footnoted proof of the previous assertion and to commemorate President Obama’s 100th day in office:

The Huffington Post

Obama’s First 100 Days: Giant Strides for Women

Eleanor Smeal

President of The Feminist Majority Foundation and Publisher of Ms. magazine

Posted April 29, 2009

By any measure, the work President Obama and his team have accomplished for women and girls in the first 100 days is impressive. They not only have reversed some of the most egregious Bush policies, but also have taken some powerful actions to advance and empower women.

I’ve been working for women’s rights in Washington, D.C. since the Carter days and I have never seen anything like these first days. The pace is fast, and the outreach is inclusive. It started during the transition: The Obama/Biden team reached out to women’s leaders and met with us on a whole host of issues frequently and at high levels.

Oh, how nice. “The Obama/Biden team reached out to women’s leaders…”And tell me Ms. Smeal when they reached out did the feminist leaders reciprocate by offering in return a battered and bruised hand? The hand of feminism that was swollen and stained with the dried but lost and unforgotten blood rendered by wounds from the 2008 election? Come on. Any woman must be blind, deaf and dumb if she cannot admit to herself that the election cycle of 2008 had a crippling effect on feminist identity.

The article then begins to center on Obama’s accomplishments as a feminist during his first 100 days. This is described as a“list of the major Obama achievements thus far vis-à-vis women’s issues.”Smeals adds that the list “ bears repeating”.Yes Ms. Smeal does indeed bear repeating. We could not hear it quite clearly the first time. We still have that ringing in our ears from the whipping we took. Keith Olberman took our dignity into a room and “Only he “ came out.

Smeals prefaces her list by adding the proverbialpacifying of the savage beast of feminism.You know, kind of like when you have been held prisoner for years in your captor’s unfinished basement. They feed you mush on a plate slid underneath the door for decades but once in a while whenever they are so inclined and feeling periodically UP,they add a York’s Peppermint Patty on the side of your paper plate.

One area of concern that should be noted, however, is the percentage of women in top jobs. We must keep pushing. According to the Washington Post’s appointment tracking database, women thus far number only 30% of appointments to positions needing Senate confirmation. But very encouragingly, appointments include a high percentage of people of color and include many outstanding feminists.

This warrants further contemplation. Color me pissed off. We have 30% of positions that are filled by women but we should be “encouraged”.That is like saying we could’ve had a V-8.I drank some Obama Kool Aid energy drink that promised to turn me into Superwoman and now after 100 days I am feeling weak again.

What follows is the list of King Obama’s contributions to the fight for women’s rights:

JAN 23: President Obama overturns the “global gag rule,” a move that will literally save countless women’s lives in developing nations and will lead to the U.S. re-funding many international family-planning programs

FEB 4: Obama signs act to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 11 million children–Bush had vetoed this act twiceFEB 17: Obama’s economic stimulus package saves and creates jobs not only in construction, where men dominate, but in fields where women workers are the substantial majority–health care, child care and education; also increases Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefitsFEB 27: Obama moves to rescind the Bush administration’s “conscience” clause, which could have let health-care workers deny patients abortion, contraception or any other procedure they objected toMAR 2: With the choice of Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, Obama appoints a total of seven women to Cabinet-level positions

MAR 6 : Obama institutes a new ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues and names Melanne Verveer to the postMAR 9: Obama lifts restrictions on stem-cell research

MAR 11: Obama establishes the White House Council on Women and Girls and names senior adviser Valerie Jarrett as chair and director of public liaison Tina Tchen as executive director

MAR 19: Obama pledges to sign a U.N. declaration to decriminalize homosexuality, which Bush had refused to signMAR 20: Obama appointee Elena Kagan is confirmed as the first woman Solicitor General

APR 3: Obama calls Afghanistan’s proposed Shia Family Law–which would permit marital rape–“abhorrent,” helping to lead Afghan President Hamid Karzai to review the law

While I agree that the list includes many items that we can safely check off as strides for women,I wish to counter that legislative victories cannot in isolation translate into sole markers for the success of women. If gender equality is judged solely by these standards, then it will become a myth. Just because something says so on paper does not make it true in the real world.

Furthermore, this “legislation passed” method is a mistake and pure folly considering the way Obama has treated women in the past. Let’s also consider that for the most part our First Lady, Michelle Obama, a woman of accomplishment in her own right, has been reduced by the mainstream media into the traditional role of a rosemary and thyme planting fashion plate. A role which reinforces negative stereotypes of a women looking picture perfect while hubby is diligently working away at the office. Purring dear wifey isevery so content to preen and stuff a capon in the kitchen. The girls are in the backyard playing footsy with Bo. All is well because after all (wink) Michelle, your house is in order.Unfortunately this is a role that our first lady seems all too eager to embrace.

Perhaps I am being too hard on Michelle Obama. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps my definition of success in the struggle for women’s rights is too broad. Maybe it should only be articulated through legislative benchmarks.

Call me picky but if we as women dutifully step aside and let down our guard because of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter law what happens if another woman such as oh say Hillary Clinton, or Srah Palin decides to run against Obama in 2012? Sure, I am offering a hypothetical. It may not at all be the case. Mitt Romney may be the GOP presidential nominee and feminists can breathe a collective sigh of relief. No difficult definitions of what makes a feminist to negotiate. But what happens if the hypothetical becomes a reality and all of the “Obama is what a feminist looks like” converts are found among the dead in his underworld of sexism and the patriarchy?

I find it quite profound that after Obama’s first 100 days in office the media has yet proclaim any miraculous mass sitings of CHANGE and HOPE. No more world hunger, no war. I never got to thank Obama for the brand new life of hope he gave to me. Somehow it slipped my mind while I was writing my check to the IRS.

Afrocity is a congenial good sport, so congratulations President Obama. Double uh-oh 44. (thumbs up)

My girl lost. Both of them. This is my punishment. I accept you as my leader. I don’t embrace you but I accept you CONDITIONALLY.

See that was not so hard. I can take it. However, what I do find unbearable is another form of post inaugural punishment. Today we are once again subjected to yet another national press conference to commemorate you guessed it- another “historic moment” in the Obama presidency. I am certain it will be one of trillions.

So what exactly has Obama achieved in 100 days? If I am the Bond girl in this piece, I have single-handedly judo chopped and kicked my way out of the car trunk of financial dependence and poverty a long time ago. Where the hell was my secret agent man then? Give me my damn apple martini!

I can’t wait for the media to make more excuses for what Obama has NOT accomplished. By this point, I would suspect that the Obamabots have realized that most of Barry’s campaign promises were lies.

“He assured me I would not lose my home” someone cries. Despite the obvious, the Obamabots shrug their shoulders and continue to drink the backwash from their glasses of Kool Aid, sucking on ice, loyal ever so dutiful starstruck servants of the anointed one.

Wow. Cool. So many grassroots toys. Is that a Hybrid?

It has become almost impossible to open a dialogue for any pragmatic critique Obama’s performance without being labeled a red neck or racist neocon Nazi. Inquiries raised during teleprompter conferences can NEVER focus on harsher subjects such as Iraq, Israel, the economy, key appointments. If you disobey, you are a racist. Yes, even Afrocity has been called a racist. I am a Nazi who should get on my knees and thank liberals for my right to choose any bus seat I want. We are expected to keep our mouths shut and watch the multicultural ecstasy of children playing in the fields of hopenchange. No more vacant inner city lots. No more Leroy the drug dealer asking for a bag of Cheetos as you exit the CVS. No more crime. Everything is as transparent as a glass of lathery bile.

(Earth to Obama: Chicago did not get that memo)

We are in the era of THE POTUS WHO LOVED ME. Stand up sheeple and mark this monumental day by emitting powerful evocations of your admiration for our president.
Please, let us begin our commemorative events of this day with an illustrative example of our incomparably magnificent Teleprompter In Chief:

I think I owe it to myself, a former DINO, to give some reflection to the Sen. Arlen Specter(D-PA) matter.
I can’t defend what he did today. Mid-term no less, a traitor is a traitor. Arlen Specter’s departure from the GOP represents just one more duplicitous RINO that we don’t need. Move along, nothing to see here. We don’t need grief counseling to help us absorb the shock of our loss. Our dearly departed Benedict Arlen already has elephants dancing on his grave.

This entire situation makes me wonder if I too, am a traitor? Seriously, how could I be the slightest bit upset with Specter when I turned my back on the Democrats nearly 2 years ago? Was I a traitor to the Democratic Party when I did not vote for Obama? Yes , I suppose in many ways I was. But according to the Democrats, I was also a traitor when I voted for Hillary Clinton rather than Barack Obama in my state democratic primary. I have no regrets about anything or anyone I have voted for in 2008.

Taken together, Sen. Specter and I similarly appear as two guiltless traitors to our political parties with one glaring exception. Specter claims that his rejection of the GOP is partly because the party is no longer grounded in the moderate principles it once was. In other words, it is the GOP that has changed not him. The GOP has ventured too far right, Specters argues. Yet it is my understanding that most Republicans widely believe the party has moved more left since Specter joined during the Reagan era. Maybe its Specter that has changed. Perhaps it is he who focuses on all things political through the lens of a liberal.

By contrast, at least I was woman enough to admit that it was not really the Democrats that changed. It was I. Granted, most Democrats are now in fact Obamacrats who invite confusion into the DNC which will ultimately undermine the party, nevertheless they are still Democrats. I was always a DINO. Before I switched parties, there were a number of instances where I was called a Republican by my liberal friends. I was never ever a dangerously liberal Democrat or a moonbat.

I began my first foray into the GOP while volunteering for a school paper. I had to cover a fundraiser for a Republican women’s group. Laura Bush, then First lady of Texas was the keynote speaker. Looking around the room, the only people of color were the caterers and myself. This party is so racist, I thought. Why couldn’t this be Hillary Clinton I was listening to? I sat in the back of the room. This way no one would ask me to fetch them a pat of butter. Imagine my surprise when people actually reached out to me, not for butter or a margarita refresh. They wanted to introduce themselves to me and were actually quite nice.

Mrs. Bush made a superb impression on me during her speech in which she addressed the charitable contributions of the Republicans as juxtaposed with those of the Democrats. “They call us heartless,” she said. “…but we deliver diapers to young mothers, food…” This surprised me as I as was programmed to believe the in liberal hype of GOP miserliness and snobbery. Sounds like mom did not give me the full story.

As the day progressed, I met more and more Republicans that I immediately hit it off with. Forgotten in the chatter, chicken fried steak and ice tea was my hatred for the Grand Old Party. I used to shudder at the thought of being in the same study group as a Republican. Now here I am speaking with the enemy.

I was about to leave when unexpectedly, a woman touched my arm and said “Laura Bush would like to speak with you.”
To which I replied “Oh? Why?”
“She wants to give you a interview,” she said.
I was nervous and rather flustered (subtext:scared shitless) as the woman left and returned five minutes later with Laura Bush. As they were walking towards me, both in brilliant red suits, I noticed that Laura Bush was smiling at me. Where is that expected icy, haughty purse -lipped conservative veneer? Instead, I was bestowed the privilege of an interview with a caring and compassionate woman who is a hard worker. That moment will always reamain one of the highlights of my life.

The following day, I was contacted by a representative from the Texas RNC. They wanted me to consider joining the party. I said, “NO” Nada, Nine, No way. I laughed out loud. I told them that as a black woman there was nothing that they could do or say that would EVER validate my belonging to the Republican Party. My response reflected years of GOP mistrust and stereotypes that had been branded into my brain since Watergate. African Americans are democrats for a reason and I knew it. Not that I could tell you what those reasons were (cough) but who cares? Why should I illuminate my political options now when my race already has made the choice for me?

After my scathing rejection of the RNC’s offer, who would have thought that I would be a Republican today?

I am a DINO who came out of the closet. It is a tough decision for anyone to make. I recalled that during that moment with Laura Bush so many years ago, I learned that I will never again assume that I know everything about every political group. I now embrace the Republican label and feel most at home here. I can only wish the same for Arlen Specter.

“I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” Specter said in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to Pennsylvania politics and confirmed by his office. Several Senate officials said a formal announcement was expected at mid-afternoon.

But even before the event took place, Specter attended a Senate subcommittee hearing on the swine flu outbreak and took a seat on the Democratic side of the dais.

He made no overt mention of his decision, but said, “Sorry I can’t stay longer, but this is a complicated day for me.”

President Barack Obama called Specter almost immediately after he was informed of the switch to say the Democratic Party was “thrilled to have you,” according to a White House official.

Spurned Republicans said his defection was motivated by ambition, not principle.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, “Let’s be honest: Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Senator Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.”

Specter, 79 and in his fifth term, is one of a handful of Republican moderates remaining in Congress in a party now dominated by conservatives. Several officials said secret talks that preceded his decision reached into the White House, involving both Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden, a longtime colleague in the Senate. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell as well as Democratic leaders in Congress also were involved.

With Specter, Democrats would have 59 Senate seats. Democrat Al Franken is ahead in a marathon recount in Minnesota, and if he ultimately wins his race against Republican Norm Coleman, he would become the party’s 60th vote. That is the number needed to overcome a filibuster.

Specter faced an extraordinarily difficult re-election challenge in his home state in 2010, having first to confront a challenge from his right in the Republican primary before pivoting to a general election campaign against a Democrat in a state that has trended increasingly Democratic in recent elections. Former Rep. Pat Toomey, whom Specter defeated in a close primary race in 2004, is expected to run again.

Specter has acknowledged in recent months that in order to win a sixth term, he would need the support of thousands of Pennsylvania Republicans who sided with Obama in last fall’s presidential election.

“I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate,” he said in the statement.

Asked by a reporter what he had to say to his constituents, Specter replied with a smile, “I don’t have to say anything to them. They said it to me.”

Specter has long been an independent Republican, and he proved it most recently when he became one of only three members of the GOP in Congress to vote for Obama’s economic stimulus legislation. Then, he proved it once more, pivoting not long afterward to say he did not support legislation making it easier to form unions, a bill that is organized labor’s top priority in the current Congress.

In Pennsylvania, the chairman of the state Republican Party, Rob Gleason, said that Specter should offer a refund to Republicans who have helped fatten his war chest, which totaled $5.8 million at the end of 2008. “He should give them the option,” Gleason said.

Even before Gleason made his comments, Specter announced he would return donations he has received this election cycle “upon request.”

Specter has long been one of the most durable politicians of either party in Pennsylvania. In recent years, he has battled Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, but maintains a busy schedule that includes daily games of squash.

As one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Specter held powerful positions on the Judiciary and Appropriations committees. It was not clear how Democrats would calculate his seniority in assigning committee perches.

As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.